Ian - Meaning of Ian

[ 2 syll.ian, ia-n ] The baby boy name Ian is pronounced in English as IY-ahN †. Ian's language of origin is Hebrew, and it is predominantly used in the English, Scottish, and Gaelic languages. This first emerged as an independent given name in 19th-century Scotland. It is now widely used among English speakers without much association with its Scottish roots and its source form John.

Ian is a variation (English, Gaelic, and Scottish) of John (English and Hebrew).

Ian has 15 variations that are used in English and foreign languages. Variations used in English include Iaen, Iaene, Iahn, Iaine, Iane, Iann (used in Scottish too), Iannel, Iayn, Iayne, Iin, Ion, and Ionn. The variant spelling Ean (used in Gaelic, and Manx too) is another English form. Iain (Scottish) is a variation of Ian that is in foreign languages. Another foreign form is the variant spelling Iaian (Scottish).

Ian is a popular baby name for boys. The name's popularity jumped from the 1930s up to the 2000s; before that, it was of only irregular use. Its usage peaked modestly in 2005 with 0.314% of baby boys being given the name Ian. Its ranking then was #68. The baby name has since experienced a drop in popularity. In 2016, it ranked at #78 with a usage of 0.251%. Among the group of boy names directly linked to Ian, John was the most popular. It was 97% more popular than Ian in 2016.